Bitter Hearts, Sweet Confessions
by Air-Quiet-Reader
Summary: There are some words Ochako cannot bring herself to say, even as she explores a romance with Deku. Bombarded by the onslaught of Valentine's Day, Ochako is forced to confront the feelings she kept buried deep within. For on Valentine's, chocolate can be the gateway to love.


The sensation of his hand weaving its way through hers was equal parts lovely and terrifying.

As always, it was oh-so-gentle in its grip. But Ochako could feel the unevenness as their flesh clasped together, their hands both worn and calloused.

It was a strange sensation – but not unpleasant.

Even walking like this, hand-in-hand, was enough to set her nerves ablaze. Even if this was their third date.

"Umm…would it be alright if we walked the grounds a little while?" He spoke quietly, barely above a whisper, as they found themselves at the front gates of U.A. "I'm...I'm not ready for this to end yet."

His cheeks reddened as he scratched at a cluster of freckles on the right side of his face. He could be so effortlessly adorable sometimes.

"Sure, Deku!" she replied brightly, despite the hard thumping of her heart. "I'd be happy to."

Their weeks together had been a whirlwind of conflicting emotions since he had finally, after two years, worked up the courage to ask her out.

It had been a close call, accepting his invitation for their first date. The question had put her on a terrifying precipice. But, in spite of her misgivings, she could not bring herself to say no.

The gravity between them had completely flipped since then. Easygoing interactions were suddenly fraught with fear. Their dialogue had oft become a dizzying dance of awkwardness.

But they were too determined to not see this through. They fought past their nerves. Their first date, albeit terrifying, was still wondrous. Those memories were something she was sure she would treasure for her lifetime, whatever came of things between them.

Now, nearing the end of their third date, they had progressed to regular hand holding. The new gesture was still enough to make her sweat.

Still, they quietly kept connected, their bodies finally starting to mimic their hearts.

"I've really had a wonderful time with you tonight." Deku's heartfelt words snapped her from her reverie. She rolled with the sudden conversation easily, nodding with a grin.

"Yeah! It was a lot of fun," she responded with enthusiasm, recalling their pleasant meal together and their various escapades throughout the evening. "That movie really got my blood pumping!"

She raised her fist and flashed a cocksure grin. His answering smile warmed her to her core.

Ochako continued to talk the night away with him, enjoying every moment. They eventually found their way back toward their dorms and their inevitable parting.

"Want to grab a seat?" Deku suggested as they came upon an ordinary-looking bench on the path. "I don't really want to get back yet."

"Me neither," she replied, shaking her head as she thought about the interrogation her friends would put her under after the date. "I guess it's not too late yet, right?"

The pair gently placed themselves on the bench. They stretched their legs in unison, rolling their worn-down ankles and leaning back.

Ochako took a deep breath, gazing up at the dark night sky. The light pollution kept most of the stars at bay, but there were a few bright spots she could pick out.

She side-eyed Deku, who was leaning back heavily into the bench. He had closed his eyes and was breathing slowly. An unfamiliar peace made its way across his features, plain-looking as ever. Still, she found her eyes drawn to his serene face.

Her pulse quickened, sending blood racing to her cheeks. She bit her lip lightly, clenching her fists and trying to keep control of her nerves. Why did she still get this way around him? She had hoped after years of controlling her tumultuous feelings about Deku, she could handle _trying _to see if a relationship would work with him. Deep down, she knew her heart yearned for it.

But her infuriating heart made her skittish. She wanted to explore something more with Deku – and how deep her feelings for him truly were - but she could do without their every interaction being a tightrope walk.

"Hey, Uraraka?"

Once again, his voice halted her train of thoughts. She internally chided herself on getting lost in her own mind again.

"What's up?" She replied, not missing a beat.

Without her realizing it, Deku had scooched himself closer to her. There was barely a foot between them now. He seemed to loom in front of her, his presence sending a light shock through her system. Goosebumps ran up her arms as his emerald eyes gazed at her, a bright spark flickering within them.

"I just..." he trailed off, his throat bobbing with a gulp. At least he was nervous too.

"I just never thought…well, maybe it's kind of silly." His eyes were glued to the wood between them, his cheeks as inflamed as hers. "I wasn't really popular growing up. I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to be with someone like this."

"Deku…" she might never understand how he, of all people, could not make friends for much of his youth. It was always a sore spot when he brought it up.

"I've been really happy being with you, Uraraka. As more than friends, I mean. It's been…it's more wonderful than anything I could have dreamed of."

Why did her heart have to hammer in her chest so fiercely? She felt an unbridled, fiery passion towards the boy in front of her take shape, freezing her in place.

"I...I feel the same way, Deku." She offered him a tight-lipped smile. It was an honest-enough response, even if she was clamping down on her urges to glomp him.

It was enough to send a bright, beaming smile across his face, one that never failed to delight her. But it did not last long. His face fell, his eyes suddenly looking everywhere but at her.

He gulped again.

"Would it be alright if I…I mean…could I...would it be alright if I…"

She might be as romantically clueless as him, but she could tell what he was getting at.

Her heart thrummed in rhythm with the electricity that seemed to flow between them. Her thoughts went quiet as she became laser-focused on the boy in front of her.

Ochako could not tell what had possessed her. Without a word, she pressed a finger to his lips, cutting off his mumbles. They felt soft to her touch, sending a small shock through her fingertip.

She gazed into his suddenly wide-eyes and took a deep, bracing breath. She refused to say anything, sure she would somehow put her foot in her mouth.

But her head moved. She nodded twice, firmly, to leave no doubt as to her answer. Her chin tilted upwards and her eyes closed. Darkness overtook her sight and she readied herself for whatever might come.

A second passed. Then two. Her heart rattled rapidly within her, out of control. Another second. She waited.

She felt his breath against her lips.

His mouth was gentle, yet solid, against hers. The contact made her eyes tense up further, determined not to look into his.

She pressed back into his lips. Back into the electric, terrifying, heart-quivering moment. She gave as good as she got, her body refusing to be passive. She heard him gasp slightly as she pushed. But he did not yield, his face standing firm as she washed over him.

The contact burned deeper than their lips' previous chaste meetings. Their mouths started closed but then opened slightly, moving in unison. They were both still too tepid to go beyond that, but it was enough to send an inferno coursing through her blood.

The moment faded as quickly as it came. As their lips parted, Ochako dared to open her eyes, in time to see Deku open his. There were no nerves in those green irises anymore. Only an admiration, deeper than she had ever seen. She could see the moisture built around the edges of his eyes, piquing her curiosity. She resisted the urge to reach out and wipe them away, the remnant feeling of the kiss keeping her still.

Another beaming smile blossomed across his freckled face. She was sure she wore one to match.

Truly, it must have been magic that had overtaken her.

"I love you, Uraraka."

With those words, the spell was broken.

Her head spun at the confession. As she tried to process it, his passionate gaze was suddenly something frightening. They were expectant, awaiting a response. She struggled to find her voice under the sudden swell of emotion between them.

She felt her heart racing again. She swallowed a lump in her throat as Deku moved his face away from hers, staring down intently at her.

Ochako tried to summon the right words. She should respond. She had to.

_Say 'I love you.'_

Her feelings for him were a knot wound tightly around her heart. She was still slowly untying it, seeing whether the cords would lead them together. It was supposed to be slow, steady, safe. Not jerking forward faster than she could handle.

_You love him. Say it._

The buzzing in her mind drove her to panic. Why could she not say anything? His face was questioning now. She had to _move._

_I love Izuku Midoriya._

"I…that's…um…why…" she stammered out, her sentences falling over themselves repeatedly. She could not muster the words.

Ochako looked up, hoping to convey _something_ in her expression while her mouth mumbled wordlessly.

But she was surprised when Deku placed his finger over her lips.

"It's okay. You don't need to say anything." Her lip quivered under the watch of his gentle gaze. "I just wanted you to know that."

His voice was deathly calm. A quiet confidence, as if he were speaking as a hero trying to comfort a victim.

The tone unsettled her deeply.

"Deku…I…" she gulped again. Closed her eyes, trying to find the words from deep within her heart.

_I love you._

"…thank you," she whispered.

His small smile did not betray him. Nor did his gentle hand clasping around hers, as he edged forward, startlingly bold, and pressed his lips to her cheek.

But his clouded eyes showed her the truth. The hurt she had inadvertently wrought, sitting in the water starting to overflow from them.

"I'm going to turn in." He stood up, not waiting for her reply. "Good night, Uraraka."

She sat statuesque as he walked away, the light casting his shadow behind him.

* * *

The display before her was enough to make her sick to her stomach.

The rainbow of colour bombarded her eyes, with strings, creams, and moulds as far as her gaze could reach. Red, pink, and white stood out more frequently. Stacks of boxes stood in a far corner, ready to house the affections stored in their many hearts.

The brightness clashed against the browns of chocolate, filling bowls in all kinds of varieties. Normally, she would be all-too-delighted to see such a large amount of sweets. Now, though, the chocolate poured onto her mounting sense of dread.

Other ingredients dotted the terrifying landscape: strawberries, nuts, eggs, butter. No possible ingredient – or expense – was spared for the display.

"I do hope we have enough. I'm pretty sure my list was comprehensive, but I'd hate to think we missed anything."

Ochako, Mina, Tsuyu, Jirou, and Toru all glanced at one another. They did not dare speak it, but they all knew they shared the exact same thought about Momo.

_She's way too rich._

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Toru stepped forward, arms of her uniform flying upwards in her exuberance. "Let's get to work!"

Ochako shuffled her feet behind her friends, letting them lead the charge to dig into the absurd amount of food before them.

She lacked enthusiasm towards Momo's idea to make Valentine's chocolates together. Given that she had ardently refused to disclose what happened during her last date with Deku, she could not summon a good-enough excuse to get out of the activity.

At least it was probably a good idea to make _something_ for Deku. Plus, this was a lot more cost-effective for her than store-bought chocolate.

Ochako reached out and grabbed part of the table, staring intently at what was laid out in front of her. There were more types of chocolate than she could count, from liquid chocolate to baking chocolate to chocolate chips.

"Do you need a hand, ribbit?"

Ochako blinked and looked to her side. Tsuyu stood next to her, a gentle smile on her face, but with eyes as unreadable as usual.

"Well…I guess I could," she replied with what energy she could muster, turning to stare down once more at the food arranged in front of her. "But I'm not really sure where to start."

"There is a lot to choose from," Tsuyu observed, looking out towards Mina, Toru, and Momo, who were eagerly starting on making customized chocolate. "But maybe it doesn't have to be complicated.."

"Whaddya mean?" Ochako asked, looking over at her friend with a piqued eyebrow.

"Well, you're making some chocolate for Midoriya, right?"

Ochako nodded in simple affirmation. She did not even sputter about it; she supposed she was growing in that regard.

"And the chocolate is supposed to represent how you feel about a person, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, how do you feel about Midoriya? What would best reflect that?" Tsuyu punctuated the question by turning her blank stare to Ochako, dark eyes probing her response.

Ochako sucked in a breath at the dangerous, innocent questions. Once again, she froze in place, trying to find an answer.

_I love him._

"Well, I like him." She gave the words as much bubbliness as she could, flashing Tsuyu a smile, trying to disguise her inner turmoil.

"Liiiikeee him, huh? How much?" Like a manic pixie, Mina hopped over to them, getting far too close on Ochako's right side. The pink girl's dark eyes were menacing, a toothy grin wide on her face.

Ochako gulped as her mind scrambled to find a way to thwart her overly-enthusiastic friend. Not even her and Deku getting together was enough to stop Mina's teasing.

"I dunno. A lot? He's…he's my best friend, after all," The words rang lamely even to her own ears. In desperation, she grabbed a bowl of chocolate, lifting it into the air. "Hey, let's get to work on making some chocolate!"

"But do you_ love_ him? That's what this chocolate is supposed to be for, isn't it?" Mina stared intently on her, her yellow eyes piercing right through Ochako.

"I-I don't know. What does it matter? I'm still just…figuring it out. We only started dating a month ago!" Ochako could not stop the rush of blood to her cheeks. She glared at her pink friend, hoping to intimidate Mina into backing down. She did _not_ need this.

"Well, it matters for your chocolate, after all!" Mina said with an innocent enthusiasm, not budging in the slightest. "Do you not love him, then?"

"No! That's not it" Ochako shouted, stomping on the ground, outright glowering at her friend. She took a loud step forward, making Mina step back.

An annoying, self-satisfied little smirk blossomed on Mina's face once the shock wore off. Ochako kept glaring down…until she realized what she herself had said.

She scanned around the room to see the rest of the group all staring directly at her. She could see the knowing little smiles on their faces. She imagined Toru wore one to match the rest.

"Wait! I didn't mean it like that!" Ochako went into full damage control mode, trying to find the words to turn the tides of this situation. She swung her head around rapidly in search for some kind of lifeline.

"It's not a big deal, Ochako," Tsuyu interjected. Ochako felt Tsuyu's hand grab hers gently, stopping it in place. She had not realized it had been shaking – and balled into a fist.

"Love doesn't have to be a scary thing," Tsuyu noted in her simple, matter-of-fact tone.

Ochako blinked at that and tried to digest how easily the statement rolled of the frog girl's tongue.

"I...it...that's not what this is," she replied in a low tone, eyes glued to the bevy of chocolate, unable to meet her friends' eyes.

"Isn't he your best friend?" Tsuyu challenged, forcing her face into Ochako's vision.

"He is-"

"And you even want to be with him as more than a friend, right?" Mina interjected, impish glee bursting from her voice.

"…I do!" Ochako admitted, spinning her head to try to answer Mina. "But-"

"And you really care for him, don't you?" Toru piped in.

"Yes!" she answered, rearing her head to try to speak to the invisible girl. This was ridiculous. She was not on trial here. "If you can just let me-"

"I don't understand," Momo stated serenely, flashing her brown-haired friend a pitying glance. "Why can't you just say you love him?"

_You love him. Why can't you say it?_

"I don't want to deal with it!"

She could feel her hands shake with unbridled emotion, no longer in Tsuyu's grasp. Her friends' incessant questions – and that nagging voice in the back of her mind – _finally_ gave way to sweet, merciful silence. She looked around to see slacked mouths and eyes full of questions.

_I don't want to deal with it._

The words rang through her mind, more clearly than when she spoke them aloud. Her red-hot frustration quickly dissipated. She brought a hand to her mouth as if hoping that doing so might retroactively stop the words from bursting forth.

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Kyoka asked bluntly for the other five girls in the room.

"I…I…" Ochako leaned forward, bracing her tense arms against the granite countertop, staring down into it.

Images flashed in her mind. Watching Deku from afar as her feelings for him blossomed. Pushing those feelings down – as she did for so many of her emotions – lest they get in the way or her or the people around her. Struggling with those feelings for years as a strange gravity bound them together.

Those self-imposed, rusted chains had ensnared her heart tightly. They choked her. She wondered if she could even pry them loose.

"Ochako…" Tsuyu placed an elongated hand over hers. "Do you really want to keep doing this?"

Her mind flashed back to her disastrous last date. Deku, so forlorn, acting as if nothing was wrong. Walking away from her, not daring to look back.

Alone.

Her head drowned in the tears she was sure he shed. They fell, splashing on the granite counter below.

Her friends came to her side. They guided her to sit down, and she gladly stumbled into a chair, her limbs suddenly far too heavy.

The nagging voice in her mind grew louder as she calmed down. She refused to cry for long – not with how much she had to do.

Through her watery eyes, she looked back up towards the volume of chocolate wonder before her. As she pondered the potential of all the different varieties, she could feel inspiration bloom forth within her mind.

She had to give him an answer.

"I have an idea."

* * *

Izuku groggily cracked his eyes open, blinking the sleep away from his vision. Remnants of his dreams floated their way through his mind – hazy pink hearts, a fast-moving cityscape, and an overbearing amount of Uraraka's face.

He reached out a hand and worked to turn off the alarm clock on a table by his bed. He could usually awaken himself before the whining blare of the device at 6:30 a.m., but it never hurt to have a backup.

Izuku groaned and rolled back over when he completed his task. He made long, slow blinks, trying to push off the urge to fall back into slumber. He had an early-morning workout to get to.

Floating a few feet above him was a small, heart-shaped, brown lump.

He blinked again and tried harder to rub the sleep out of his eyes. His dreams must be seeping into reality.

But the lump stayed right where it was, floating solidly above him. He recognized it as chocolate, catching a whiff of the sweet fragrance emanating from it.

It was a plain-looking thing. Milky brown, with darker lines crisscrossing atop it. As the last remnants of sleep dissipated, he noticed there was a delicate character written in the center of the heart.

愛

He blinked, rubbing at his eyes, confused by the kanji for love and affection. He reached out with a hand and grabbed it, pulling it close to get a better look.

The symbol was written neatly for such a small surface, although it was a little rough on the edges. Curious about its floating, he released it from his grip, only for it to remain steady in the air.

"Uraraka," he whispered to himself in astonishment, unable to control the smile blossoming on his face.

He briefly glanced around his All Might infused room, his groggy mind wondering if she was somehow hiding there. Idly, he plopped the chocolate into his mouth, humming as the sweet taste rolled across his tongue.

Izuku scrambled to get dressed into a warm, green jogging outfit, hoping to track down Uraraka and figure out how exactly she had gotten the chocolate into his room.

More importantly, he wanted to know what exactly she had meant by it; the kanji on its own was generic, after all. He had not anticipated Valentine's Day chocolate from her amidst their rocky spell. But apparently, she had other plans.

Heart daring to hope, Izuku stepped out of his room to greet the rest of the day, only for his forehead to collide with yet another chocolatey treat.

This one was a little more substantial than the last: a heart-shaped, brown cookie a little smaller than his hand. Another kanji was written on it, this one in a thick, green frosting that matched his suit:

恋

The kanji for longing and romantic love was accentuated with some extra pink sprinkles.

Izuku felt like as if his heart might burst at the sight as he grabbed the cookie with a grin. He instinctively took a bite out of it. It was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted.

His eyes busied themselves with scanning the hallway, half-expecting Uraraka to leap out and confront him. Instead, his eye caught on a small object floating in the air at the end of the hallway. Yet another sweet delight left behind for him.

Izuku found himself guided through the dorms by a series of Valentine's treats floating through the air. Each was emblazoned with a different symbol relating to love, whether it be kanji, oversized hearts, or even the odd word in English. One particularly adorable cupcake had artfully included both their faces. He thought he might break out into tears at that one.

But in this early morning hour, he could not find the person who made him want to leap into the sky.

With his arms starting to overflow with confectionary, Izuku was relieved to see an empty, small cardboard box on the kitchen counter in the common area. Mercifully, there was nobody else there at this early morning hour. He breathed a sigh of relief as he deposited his treats into the box; he did not want to try to deal with probing questions from his classmates.

Another message was scrawled on the inside of the box: "Outside, backdoor."

Increasingly perplexed, Izuku nonetheless followed instructions. More floating treats guided him when he exited the dorm building, straight into a forested area on campus.

With each new chocolate came a new message of love and affection, further sending his heart aflutter. His mind struggled to process what, exactly, Uraraka meant by all this. She had shown she was hardly ready to confess love to him – and he was fine with that. What could have brought this on, and where was it all leading to?

Eventually, his eyes finally laid sight on Uraraka in the distance through the spaces between the trees, dressed snugly in a brown coat. Izuku sprung forward with haste, wanting to get close to her and somehow show her just how much he appreciated her unbelievably lovely gesture.

"Wait!" she cried out, holding an outstretched hand as Izuku entered the small clearing she was standing in. Up close, he could see the strain on her face. Her eyebrows scrunched upward and she placed a hand firmly over her gut, a telltale sign she was fighting back Quirk-induced queasiness.

"I'm glad you made it alright. I was getting pretty worried." Her voice still sounded bright but quick breaths made her uneven. "I just…I need to say something before you ask me anything. Okay?"

Izuku swallowed his nerves, the air filling with a peculiar tension. His mind spun with possibilities of what she might say, unable to judge which outcome was most likely.

He took a steadying breath. It would be alright. This was Uraraka. They had made it this far, hadn't they?

"Alright."

Her answering smile was strained and much, much too lovely.

"I know I didn't say anything when you told me…when you told me you loved me." Her cheeks reddened at the proclamation, but her speech carried on strongly as she stared him head-on. "I want to apologize for that. I wanted to make it up to you."

"Uraraka, there's nothing-" he tried to interject, but she pushed her hand forward again, staying his tongue.

"I didn't understand it at the time," she admitted, chocolate-coloured eyes rolling downward. "Why I couldn't answer. But I realized after pushing my feelings about you away for so long…I was afraid of them."

She reached down into a small, pink knapsack she had placed at her feet. She pulled out a sizeable, white box from within. From that, she finally managed to pull out the object she sought: a large chocolate heart with some kind of writing etched into it.

"I used to think it would be better for both of us if I never dealt with those feelings," she sighed as she slid a finger down her crafted chocolate. "I didn't know how to deal with them, you know? And I…I still don't, really. I don't know what's going to happen next."

She looked back up toward him, her eyes connecting with his. Izuku felt his throat catch at the intensity of her gaze, so focused, freezing him in place. The cold wind blew his hair around but did little against the warmth rising in his face.

"But I do know some things. I know I trust you, Deku. I know you're the best person I've ever met. I know I look up to you. And I know these last few weeks, going out with you…they've been some of the happiest I can remember."

He reined in the urge to call out, to rudely interject with his own swelling emotions. Still, he could not stop the tears from falling down his cheeks, the air chilling them against his skin.

She closed her eyes. Breathed in. Out again. She let go of the chocolate in her hands with a push, moving it rapidly towards him.

"I know I want to be with you."

The chocolate sailed quickly through the air. Izuku held out his trembling hands to catch the chocolate heart as it came to him. It was large enough that he needed both hands to hold on to it. He stared down at it with wide eyes, the texture smooth to his touch.

He narrowed his focus down onto the words, etched carefully with a white chocolate lettering.

愛してる 出久

("I love you Izuku")

"…and that I love you, Deku." She spoke the words as he read them, leaving him no room to doubt his eyes.

The chocolate in his hands shook as his own heart pulsed rapidly. He read the letters carved into it over and over again, words he once feared he would only ever hear from his mother.

He lifted his face up from it and stared back at Uraraka through his own watery eyes. The sunlight bathed her smile through the trees. She peeked at him from underneath her eyelashes, her brown locks framing her face perfectly.

There were no words that would not fail him.

Izuku closed the distance between them with two tremendous leaps, pulling a giggling Uraraka into his arms. He pushed a kiss into her hairline as she wrapped her own arms around him, pushing her face into his chest.

"You…you're..." he blubbered, trying and failing to find _something _he could say in response.

"I love you, Uraraka. So, so much." He decided it would be best to keep it simple.

"Gosh, Deku, I didn't think you'd cry this much," she teased, stepping back slightly to thumb a tear off his cheek.

Izuku croaked out something between a laugh and a sob. "Sorry. Couldn't really help it."

"Nothing to say sorry for," she assured him with a smile. "Hey, Deku?"

"Hmm?"

"Would it be alright if I kissed you now?"

The question rolled off her tongue with quickness and ease as-of-yet unseen in their fledgling relationship. He blinked at her and felt his face burn as he stared down at her own mirthful gaze.

He could only nod.

He could taste the chocolate, and the love, on her lips.

* * *

AN: Written for the IzuOcha Discord Server Valentine's Day contest.

Thank you to folks in the server for editing this and making it so much better. Ducktective, Deadliest Sin Bin and anyone else I missed, kudos to you.

Sorry it's been a while. I've been working on another project which I hope I can bring to fruition.

Hope you all enjoyed! Please leave a favourite and a review! ^_^


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